 |
Kathmandu Friday August 31, 2001 Bhadra 15, 2058.
|
Govt-Maoist talks get underway
First round leads to second; Next round two weeks later
By Damakant Jayshi
GODAVARI, Lalitpur, Aug 30 – The government and the
Maoist rebels kicked off their first ever official dialogue at an opulent resort here,
spending much of the marathon hours familiarizing themselves with each other. In the end,
the meeting yielded an agreement to meet again, two weeks later.
That may not be much of a progress, but no one expected
far-reaching agreements on the first round of the dialogue anyway. Just the fact that the
two sides are talking officially after nearly six years of violence and mayhem is progress
enough for many.
Having familiarized themselves, both sides are now preparing
for the nitty gritty of delicate negotiations when the second round begins in two weeks
time. The western district of Rolpa, a rebel stronghold, has been proposed by the rebels
as the venue of the second round. Government negotiators said, they would think it over.
From what has emerged about today’s historic meeting,
the Maoist delegation led by Krishna Bahadur Mahara stuck to its guns - new Constitution,
an interim government and an end to this Hindu Kingdom in favour of a republic. In reply,
the government side led by Minister for Physical Planning and Works Chiranjivi Wagle said
that they would get back after further consultations, according to information provided by
Mahara.
What this denotes is, either the Wagle team didn’t have
the mandate even to reject outright the Maoist’s republican demands.
Or, they simply wanted to listen to the rebels rather than
giving their own opinion. Government officials say, the latter case is true since it had
all along been decided that the Wagle team would not furnish any agenda but rather just
listen to what Mahara and company had to say. "We will be presenting our position in
the second round," a senior government official said.
Besides Wagle, the five-member government committee includes
Minister for Agriculture Mahesh Acharya, Minister for Water Resources Bijay Kumar
Gachchhadar and Nepali Congress leaders Chakra Prasad Bastola and Narhari Acharya. The
three-member Maoist team is led by former leftist lawmaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara and
includes Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Agni Prasad Sapkota. Also present were two independent
facilitators - former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana and former leftist MP Padma Ratna
Tuladhar.
Both the government and the Maoists stressed that the talks
were held in highly cordial atmosphere. "We placed our demands, the ones that we have
been raising all through … like republic … a new Constitution … a new
interim government," said Mahara from a speeding car after the talks ended. He was
with only one of his comrades, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi. The other, Agni Prasad Sapkota, left
immediately after the talks for Janakpur.
Although Prime Minister Sher Bahadur had previously said that
the venue and the details of the talks will be kept a closely-guarded secret, the secrecy
was blown away by the heavy presence of security personnel leading to the Godavari Village
Resort, the venue for today’s talks.
After the talks, the two sides issued a joint-statement which
read: "Both the government and the Maoists have expressed their commitment to resolve
all the differences and the problems through peaceful dialogue." The statement
further added that the government side, while stressing on the solution through peace,
urged the Maoists to desist from resorting to any pressure tactic or use of force. Mahara
presented his party’s views and assured the Wagle team that they would not allow any
such activities.
Later, briefing the reporters, Wagle said that he was hopeful
of a solution to the Maoist problem, declining to reveal any further. Talking about today’s
dialogue, Wagle said that "initially we tried to understand each other. After all,
this is the first time we were meeting," revealed the Minister. "Then we came to
the conclusions about today’s meeting which is in the joint statement."
Dhungana and Tuladhar, the two facilitators who had taken
part only after the two committees were huddled closed doors, expressed their satisfaction
at the turn of the events. Speaking to reporters, they said that if both the sides
displayed the same cordiality and commitment to resolving the problem as evident today,
the problem will be resolved very soon.
"Today the subject matter was introduced," said
Tuladhar. When asked about the constitutionality of today’s talks, former Speaker
Dhungana, declined to comment.
Other Stories
|
